Pages

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

One minute you are walking across the base with purpose to go and
get something. Then you get there, and forget what it was. You go back
to where you started, and repeat the whole process again. And again.

It is the lack of sunlight messing with your head.

Before spending winter in Antarctica at Scott Base, job applicants
are put through psychometric testing to ensure they can hack it.

The last plane leaves in February and they will not see another
until October. It is just you, the ice and a dozen or so other people.

Of course, it is not quite as grim as all that. There are about 150
people in another base nearby and it is not always completely black
outside.

There are auroras and stars that go on forever and a landscape so cold and quiet it seems untouched, almost unearthly.

Kiwi Troy Beaumont spent most of 2011 in Antarctica, staying on for the winter as base manager.
Most of the work is prepping equipment - making sure everything is
serviced and ready to go once the science teams and summer personnel
return.

Each night, TVNZ's new bulletin is sent through for the winter staff
to watch. On Friday nights, there are darts competitions with the
Americans and a constant rotation of themed dinner parties.

One day, you might even wake up to find colony of emperor penguins have set up camp right outside your front door.

Beaumont was lucky enough to spend some of his winter days sitting
in a deck chair on the ice, surrounded by penguins who had popped up
when the sea ice cracked near the base.

The experiences are unreal - and most of the reason why people volunteer to go down there for months at a time.

For Beaumont, it was a dream come true. The former glacier guide had
worked towards a winter posting on the icy continent and it paid off.

Living with those winter staff for months has earned him friends for life and a wealth of experiences to relive.

Live Blackfooted Penguins in HD - Monterey Bay Aquarium

Aquarium of the Pacific Live Penguin Cam

Listen to the Gentoo Purr

The Torgersen Island Penguin Camera

The Penguin Camera is located on Torgersen Island (64°46’S, 64°04’W), off the coast of Anvers Island and less than a mile from Palmer Station. Torgersen Island is home to a colony of Adélie penguins numbering approximately 2,500. This camera is seasonal and operates primarily from October to February, the Adélie breeding season. The camera is solar-powered and may sometimes experience brief outages due to inclement weather. School classrooms and other educational demonstrations will often take control of the camera, moving it to gain better views of the colony.